The Thinning Games
by Briardust
Summary: The Swell was rising too fast. So they gathered the leaders. Then they came to an agreement. Let The Thinning Games begin.
1. Prolouge

The Swell was rising too fast. There was inflation in the Clans, as so many had joined and so many had mated. So many offspring.

They had to do something. So they gathered the leaders. Snowstar from ShadowClan, Fishstar from RiverClan, Mousestar from WindClan, and finally, Sparrowstar from ThunderClan.

Then they came to an agreement. Every year, five cats from each Clan would come together and fight to the death. The Thinning. Two she-cats, two toms. ShadowClan and ThunderClan would submit three toms, and RiverClan and WindClan would submit three she-cats.

Let The Thinning Games begin.


	2. Chapter 1- The Reaping

Fishstar looked down at his Clan. "It is with deep sorrow that I announce that it is time for The Reaping." He looked around. "Swallowflight has talked with StarClan, and they have come up with a sign signal system for each cat. StarClan will send her the five tribute's signals." He looked around. "Swallowflight?" A small, light brown tabby she-cat with gray eyes padded forward.

She cast her eyes down. "StarClan sent me the signs earlier." Her eyes swept over her already condemned Clanmates.

She looked down at her paws, pushing a single third of a dock leaf forward.

"Leafshadow." A wail arose from the crowd as a dark brown tabby male with amber eyes clung onto a determined-looking calico with blazing green eyes. "Let go, brother." She whispered to him, and he finally let go.

Swallowflight nodded to her, sorrow etching her face so much it almost tainted the air. She pushed a bloodred berry in front of her.

"Palestrike." A cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes ran up and leapt next to Leafshadow.

"The last she-cat." She looked up at them. There was a soft lily petal with three small shreds in the center.

"Sunlily." Her voice cracked at the last syllable.

The newly formed warrior, who had just found a mate, who was supposed to have a brigt future, stepped forward with her golden tabby pelt shimmering around her green eyes.

"No!" Her make, Brackenstorm, wailed from the crowd. His black pelt rippled with grief against his blue eyes. "No! Sunlily!"

"Take him away." Fishstar ordered calmly, and two toms dragged the grieving mate out of the clearing.

"Now onto the toms." Said Swallowflight, voice suddenly clear. She pulled out a thorn dipped with greenish water.

"Turtlewing." A dark brown tabby tom with gray eyes.

"Darkflicker." A jet black tom with a white spot on his chest and sharp, dark green eyes.

The Reaping was over.

Time to go to ShadowClan… hehe…

Snowstar's gray pelt leapt onto her rock where she would address her Clan. While shifting her white paws and chest star, as well as her green eyes, she explained the rules and signals.

"Darkwater." The white tom with black tabby markings stepped up.

A single feather stripped Doverun, identical to Snowstar, her mother, away from her kits, three apprentices who wailed as she was dragged away. A lizard scale dragged Lizardclaw, a brown tabby she-cat, away from her mate and brother, green eyes filled with sorrow. In the toms, a dead mouse meant that Duckfang, a gray tom with amber eyes, had to leave. A bee meant Buzzardear, and silver tabby tom with green eyes, was sentenced to almost certain death. And finally, Ripplefang, a brown tom, was taken from his mate and kits, amber eyes gleaming with overwhelming grief.

Let The Thinning Games begin…

Sparrowstar watched from a log as his silver medicine cat, Echoshine, padded up to his Clan. His blue eyes gleamed next to his dark brown pelt that was almost black- indeed, it looked so when he was wet.

"Petalflash." A cream she-cat with light brown tabby markings and green eyes.

"Eaglestorm." A gray she-cat with blue eyes.

"Oakstreak." A dark brown tom with dark brown eyes with a front left white paw was called forward.

"Copperflash." A ginger tabby with gray eyes.

"Adderglow." A dark, muted russet tom with yellow eyes was reaped, and it was done.

Mousestar, a small brown tom with amber eyes, called on his son that looked just like him and acted as his medicine cat.

"Brownrat?"

"Flowerpebble." A calico she-cat with blue eyes.

"Shadedpetal." A tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes.

"Lilytrickle." Another tortoiseshell, but this time with green eyes.

"Blackrush." A burly black tom with a heavy scar across his left eye suppressed a grinned.

"Tigershade." A dark orange/russet tabby tom with yellow eyes was selected.

The Tributes were selected, and the Games would soon begin.


	3. Chapter 2- Beauty Base Zero

The Tributes had said their goodbyes. They had reached a far-off, secluded patch of woods where they would be prepped and interviewed and kept until they entered The Games.

Now it was time for the prep teams. One for each gender of each Clan.

Eaglestorm was done with the prep and happiness. She was tired and sad, and she just wanted to go home. She didn't want to die. But it seemed irretrievable at this point.

She waited patiently as her ginger tabby she-cats licked her into perfection, as well as fixed her claws into dagger-sharp claws, smooth but lethal.

She sighed as her stylist, a brown tabby tom with burly muscles, looked her over.

He discussed her strategy and her new outfit and gave her some downtime before handing her back over to her prep team. Eaglestorm kept in her daze of disbelief and confusion until she was herded with her Clanmates to a mossy clearing to show off their style by walking around with their decorations. WindClan had heather sprigs between their ears and through thick parts of pelts and around their tails. ShadowClan had thorns interviewed through their pelts and around their heads. RiverClan were drenched to the bone, and smelled even more like fish than usual. They were beautifully decked out with fish scales. Their fur glistened with both kinds of beauty.

Eaglestorm and the rest of the ThunderClan cats had sap stuck to them with a beautiful single golden-brown leaf stuck onto their left shoulder. She realized she didn't even know how they were going to broadcast this to the rest of the Clans. She bet they told the Clans after they left. Afterwards she feasted on all the prey she wanted and drifted off to sleep.

Back at home in ThunderClan, all of the cats were told by Echoshine, their medicine cat, to return to their dens or another comfortable spot, but regardless of rank with friends, family members, and other loved ones. They were to then close their eyes…

As all the other cats in all the other Clans did this, a hush fell across the entire lake territories. StarClan cats nodded and sent out the communal dream, inviting them all to one spot. Once they had all arrived, they showed them the broadcast of the day in the sky, and explained how they would show The Games like this each and every time, with two commentators, every day. They were to gather at the same time.

They wished them a good day and sent them back, knowing that in only a couple of days the cats would wake up grieving.

 **List of Surviving Tributes:**

 **ThunderClan**

Petalflash

Eaglestorm

Oakstreak

Copperflash

Adderglow

 **RiverClan**

Leafshadow

Palestrike

Sunlily

Turtlewing

Darkflicker

 **WindClan**

Flowerpebble

Shadedpetal

Lilytrickle

Blackrush

Tigershade

 **ShadowClan**

Doverun

Lizardclaw

Duckfang

Blizzardear

Ripplefang

 **A message from Briardust-**

 **I am using a site from Quora about the order of events. :Disclaimer: I own nothing but the arena and my OCs. I own none of the original concepts from either series, which belong to Suzanne Collins and Erin Hunter. Some characters may be inspired or based off of original characters. The proceedings of The Thinning Games are not my own. The Thinning Games and concepts that differ from the originals are, though, owned by me.**

 **Thank you, and let The Games begin.**


	4. Chapter 3- Claws Out

**Author's Note: At first I wondered why and how the title for this chapter came so easily to me, and then I remembered I loved Miraculous Ladybug, and it explained A LOT.**

 **But on to the story…**

"Lilytrickle!" The tortoiseshell groaned at the prospect of wakefulness, and rolled over on her perfect moss bed. "Lilytrickle!" One of her green eyes cracked open to reveal Shadedpetal, who, though unrelated, could pass for her twin, and was another female tribute in The Thinning Games from her home Clan, WindClan. She dusted off the last of the heather sprigs from her ears and looked up at her grumpily. "What?"

Shadedpetal shook off her comrade's grumpiness. "Robincluster, Bluespeckle, and Lightstream want to see us!" She was referring to the female tributes from WindClan's prep team, who consisted of an orange tabby, a grayish-blueish tabby, and a pale cream tabby. For 'fashion matching purposes'. The Dark Forest audience was crazy and pampered into craziness as their new punishment. How terrible for them. No winters, no need for food, no loved ones…

"Lilytrickle!" Shadedpetal's grumpy mew broke her back into reality. Time for another great day of being poked, prodded, and preened to 'pretty perfection'. If she never heard another 'p' in her life, Lilytrickle would be happy.

After she was fussed over, but less so than the previous day, Lilytrickle, Shadedpetal, Flowerpebble, Blackrush, and Tigershade were led into the Training Center, a humongous meadow with everything from edible plants and animals, to laying traps out. The rest of the tributes had already clustered together, just waiting for them. Maybe it was partially because of Flowerpebble taking swipes at anyone's ear that came close enough. Lilytrickle was tempted to join, but refrained. This was the only part she'd enjoy out of this whole Thinning Games thing, anyways.

After spending a considerable amount of time trying to decide where to go first, she met a she-cat she was familiar with from Gathering, Palestrike. She trained alongside the the cream tabby with amber eyes at the edible prey section until dark, where they were called back to their respective sleeping areas. She left Palestrike friendlier with her than she wished, considering that she might as well just kill her early on to get her out of the way. But she could be a possible ally. Lilytrickle spent the entire night thinking of this, and finally came up with the conclusion that she would just have to wing it when the time came.

In the next two days, she picked up three more allies- one and a half on each day. (Meaning she slightly befriended one on the second day and then finalized their alliance on the last.) One of them was Leafshadow, one of Palestrike's friends from her own Clan. The calico's blazing green eyes shone determination through every surface of her body possible, and was impressively strong for her moderate size, though she was slightly bigger than almost all of the rest of them. The next was Oakstreak, a tom from ThunderClan. The dark brown tabby tom's white front left foot wiped the air powerfully and viciously, and his glowing, dark brown eyes calculated every move. But he was also sweet, compassionate, and kind. The last was Lizardclaw, who was considered bigger than even Leafshadow because of her slightly extra muscle and slightly extra height, making her all-around larger than the rest of them. The brown tabby she-cat could fight viciously, and once barely missed losing one of her green eyes.

In the end, Lilytrickle felt confident in her allies. She liked and respected each and every one.

Now it was just a show of which ones would die off, and which ones she'd have to kill.


	5. Chapter 4- Strike Hard and Fast

Palestrike yawned, exhausted from training that day. But it was time for the private sessions. She waited and waited for what seemed like eons in a small cave in a mountain as cats filed out. WindClan, ShadowClan, ThunderClan… finally, it was RiverClan's turn.

Palestrike padded into the deeper cavern, a large stone creation with a high, vaulted ceiling and a large floor situated just as the Training Center was. She looked up to see a crevice with fourteen cats- five from the Dark Forest, nine from StarClan- who would act as the Gamemakers.

Palestrike looked around as they snapped to attention. She asked for some dummies to be set up to fight. They gave her real, actual cats after seeing just a taste of what she could do.

"Claws sheathed." Ordered the head Gamemaker, a pale cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes named Amberstar. Palestrike nodded and leaped into the battle.

Jump. Swirl. Turn. Swipe. Roll. Repeat. Her rhythm in battle did not go unnoticed, and the other cats started to parry her. Jump. Leap. Claw. Duck. Pounce. Repeat.

She then brought out her secret weapon, bubbling from deep inside her.

Palestrike let her inner darkness take over and lunged in without strategy, without caution, just throwing herself into the fray. Several cats back out to avoid dying. She had her paws pinned down tightly onto a gray tabby's neck, ready to kill, when she sensed gazes. Twenty seven cats had just witnessed the miracle that was her Deep Mode.

She was excused.

Later on that night, the tributes settled down for a collective dreams in which to get their scores.

Palestrike smiled as her eleven flashed up on the screen.

It was gotime.

 **~Sorry for the short update! Be sure to review your thoughts :). Also, I didn't intentionally put RiverClan (and therefore, Palestrike,) last. I think that was the order that the Clan were created, and I will honor the dead and do the Victory Tour and such in that order. I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I'm going to stick with this now :):):). Bye!~**


	6. Chapter 5- Sweet, Shy, or Sure

Prep day. That's the first thing that came to Copperflash's mind when he woke up. Time to deal with his mentor. Since no Games had yet been administered, until a Clan had a victor, they brought battle-weary warriors to train the new tributes. His and and rest of ThunderClan's tom tributes had gotten Dockstrike, a white tom with a fluffy coat and ginger patches. His amber eyes were always shining, but his claws were always ready to kill.

Being the second reaped, he was the second to go and talk strategy for the interview. He walked into his mentor's small cave and was immediately assaulted with four words.

"Sweet, shy, or sure?" He blinked. "What?" He moved over to where hi mentor was lounging on a thick, sweet bed of moss, and pulled up a smaller, yet comfortable, one to sit on. He wrapped his tail around his feet primly.

"Do you want to approach the interview as a sweet cat forced into uncomfortable circumstances? Or evasive, shy? Or are you sure to win?" The tom asked.

Copperflash thought for a second.

"I think I'll be myself, thank you very much." He said, affronted.

Dockstrike shook his head, standing up and brushing moss of his pelt. "Not going to cut it."

A fury coursed through Copperflash's veins.

"I think I'll be the judge of that." He snarled, before tussling with his surprised mentor and ending up with him pinned on top of the older tom, his claws ever so slightly digging into the lush fur.

Dockstrike looked up at him with amazement.

"I disregard my previous statement. And if someone else doesn't, it seems they may not live to tell the tale."

...

Copperflash pinned his ears back as his prep team finished ripping him apart and putting him back together. As the spotted cats left, he was escorted back to the meadow in which they had showcased their costumes, but led through it and deeper into the woods. After a short walk that still seemed to span a lifetime, they emerged into one of the most catastrophic places he had ever seen. The roar of the crowd was astounding. He gasped as he realized what it meant.

No dreams tonight. The Clan were out here.

There was his mother- his best friend- his father- look! There was his sister, and the medicine cat. Those cats he knew were on his team. He looked around at the high, daunting boulders with perfect cuts for each Clan to evenly spread around in a circle.

Like an arena.

But not all were on his side. Obviously those from the other Clans, but some of his Clanmates, too. Beside him sat the rest of his Clan's tributes. Petalflash. Eaglestorm. Oakstreak. Adderglow. Families. Friends.

Who thirsted for his blood.

He shook himself, dismissing the thoughts that haunted him. Of course some wanted him dead. That was the way of The Games.

WindClan marveled the crowd with their interviews. Flowerpebble, sweet. Shadedpetal, sure. Lilytrickle, though it definitely hadn't been brought up in his training, sassy. Or maybe just herself, as Copperflash had chosen. Blackrush, sure. Tigershade, sure.

ShadowClan had more of a variety. Doverun, sweet and shy. Lizardclaw, sure. Duckfang, shy. Blizzardear, shy. Ripplefang, sweet.

Finally, it was ThunderClan's turn.

Petalflash dazzled the audience with a shy and sincere thanks to all they were doing for the cats, and how they were treated like they were home. Eaglestorm preached about how things are hard until they come down to it. Oakstreak, strong and sure, told them all how he would win. Eventually, and to his dread, it was Copperflash's turn.

He gulped and padded up to the dark brown tabby tom, Runningwood, who was interviewing them. He nodded encouragingly. Copperflash took a seat next to the tom, muzzle dry.

Runningwood took this as confidence, and started off. "So, Copperflash, how do you think the others have been performing so far? Intimidating to you?" All of the Clans leaned in expectantly for the answer. Coperflash just shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have an answer right now. Can we move on?" The other tom's grin only flickered for a moment. "Sure, Copperflash. Bright young fellow, huh? Don't want to make any wrong moves? Now, that's smart. And sure honest!" He meowed, earning a roar from the crowd. He leaned in. "So, how do you think that will help you in the arena?"

Copperflash was unexpectedly ticked off by this statement. Forgetting himself for a moment, he answered with a sarcastic, "As much as these questions will."

The snap earned him only a split second of silence before Runningwood purred. "That's a good one, because sponsors are everything when you get out there. Now, tell me- you have humor, wit, and honesty. But what other attributes may help you in the arena?"

Copperflash tensed up a bit more, and forgetting all his training, blurted out, "Well, let's hope I have enough smarts not to have myself killed." A collective purr rumbled through the audience, along with a few chuckles, including from Runningwood. He panicked, thinking he had done something wrong, and apologized before he was assured that it was "quite alright".

"Well, we're almost to the end of the interview," said Runningwood, sounding almost regretful, and snapping him back into reality,"but let's go back to that opening question. Any thoughts?"

Copperflash considered this for a moment.

"I would like to tell the other tributes that they have done well," he said, straightening up, "but not well enough. I will take each and every one of you-" here his confident gaze swept over the collected tributes- "- down, if I need to. Because whatever you've done," he continued, looking boldly now back at Runningwood and the audience, "it isn't going to be enough. I'll fight and kill all of you when it comes to it." He knew he was being repetitive, but he had to get this message across. "So don't think I won't. The only way out of this arena is through, and-" here his voice lowered to a growl- "I intend to get out of it."

The power his words harnessed were immediately recognized. But Copperflash didn't know how the audience reacted, or what happened next. He was running on an internal flame burning up inside of him. He was no longer a piece in The Thinning Games.

He was a player.

 **Please review!**

 **Love Briardust :)**


	7. Chapter 6- 60 Seconds

Oakstreak had, surprisingly, slept. The burly tom was shaken awake by Strongwind, his stylist, a dark brown burly with tabby markings and amber eyes. "Oakstreak! We need to get you ready." His voice sounded like a growl. He blinked wearily from his mossy bed. It was before dawn. Why was he being waken up so early? And then it all came back to him.

Today was the day of The Games.

The next part of the day was crazy. He was taken in an old Twoleg house, into a specific room, with all of the tributes and their stylists. Then he was promptly knocked out by dock leaves covered in a smelly substance over his muzzle. So were the rest of them.

When he opened his eyes, he was underground. He was far away, he reckoned, far enough that he had to be below the arena. The circular room was interwoven with sturdy roots. Strongwind was staring at him. "They woke us up early." He said. Oakstreak bounded up. "I'm hungry." He announced, even though he would barely be able to force anything down. _I need my strength._ He thought to himself.

Strongwind looked expectantly at a hole in the wall Oakstreak had not noticed, where a mouthwatering scent flooded out. Soon an entire feast of rabbit, pheasant, and five fat salmon. On the side was a frog and a toad. For ShadowClan, Oakstreak guessed. He dug in, noticing bitter-tasting herbs inside. Always the same herbs, though he tried everything. He looked expectantly at Strongwind.

"Good job eating." He said gruffly. "And yes, they're all the same herbs. Traveling and strengthening ones. Since different Clans like different things, it would be unfair if they were different. Want some water?" Oakstreak nodded. Stongwind jerked his head to the far right corner of the cave, where there was a small pool of water. Oakstreak started. He'd have to be more observant if he were to play these games right.

After a tense waiting session, a voice came from the hole that had previously given food. "Please send the Tributes up and give them the rules." By the voices echoing around, it seemed like the room behind the gaping darkness must be connected to all rooms, all with a different cat.

He looked expectantly at his stylist. "What are the rules? What does it mean, 'going up'?"

"The rules are simple." Said Strongwind. "Step out of your designated area before the screech, and I kill you." He looked at him sternly. "Each tribute for each stylist." He explained at Oakstreak's confused look.

"Now, see those stairs, there?" He gestured with his tail to one of the only things Oakstreak had noticed, a set of stairs that led into blackness made of of solid-packed and dry mud. He nodded. "Climb them until you get to the top. Set your front paws up onto the earth. Don't push or you're breaking the rules." The threat was hardly concealed. "When you hear the first screech, push. Got it?" Oakstreak nodded again. His voice was stuck in his throat.

"Thank you." He managed to get the words out, and now it was Strongwind's turn t o nod his head. "Now go."

Oakstreak headed up to the top and called down when he was ready. The soil felt soft and smooth, slanting away from him. He heard Strongwind tell the hole that his tribute was ready, even though he couldn't see him.

A screech split the air suddenly, Oakstreak pushed, and he was in the arena.


	8. Chapter 7- The Games

Palestrike blinked, the light blinding her for a second before she was aware of a scratching behind her. Whirling around, she saw a stone being rolled over the tunnel entrance. She turned around again.

She was part of a large circle of twenty cats. In the middle was a large cave rising out of the ground, with provisions and food getting better and better as you got closer and closer. Around her was scent marks marking her territory for 60 seconds. She looked around. To her left was Duckfang, beyond him Blackrush. To her right was Lilytrickle, and to her right was Doverun. The arena itself was a plain yellow grass field. To her diagonal right was a thick, lush forest. In front of the circle, from her point of view, were tall grasses. Behind her were sloping mountains. Her paws itched to find a river, but she thought that she might try for the tall grasses. Some were by the border with WindClan, and she was used to hunting in them.

A yowl split the air, and she dashed for the cave.

What followed she would never forget. A writhing mass of cats, screeching, yowling, snarling. Blood. Fur. Shining claws.

She raced the others to the cave and got there behind Lilytrickle and Lizardclaw, both her allies. They collectively grabbed as much food and herbs as they could carry, and dashed away. Palestrike led them over to the tall grasses, but before she could make it, there was a splintering pain in her back.

Twisting around after her allies didn't notice her absence, she saw Adderglow looming over her. Simultaneously, somewhere there was a distinct boom, like a thunder clap.

Then another.

Palestrike knew enough to know that this meant two cats were already dead. The bloodbath was horrible. And judging by the look on Adderglow's face, she wasn't far behind them.

The russet tom in question looked down on her with horrible yellow eyes and raised his dark paw. He swiped it down at her neck, but it had only slightly punctured her skin before he was yanked off her.

Oakstreak pinned down the tom, swiping at him and screeching. Yowling in pain, they fought. Palestrike was still paralyzed by shock and fear when another thunderclap went off. Surely one of the toms? But now Adderglow was underneath Oakstreak's claws, still moving, but defeated. One good slash to the the throat and it was done. Oakstreak ran up to Palestrike, grabbed half of her goods, and dashed off. She grabbed the rest and followed her ally into the long, spiky grasses. On and on they ran, until they found Lilytrickle and Lizardclaw, panting. They were both streaked with blood, but they seemed fine. All four collapsed with relief. After a short while, Palestrike shook herself and stood up. "Where's Leafshadow?" She asked nervously. The other cats just looked at each other and shook their heads. They bowed them just in time for the cat in question to come barging into them.

A soft cry of joy was uttered. There were murmurings of relief as they all grabbed what they had- five rabbits, ten packs of herbs, two fish and a vole- and kept going, outward and farther away from the cave and the dangers that awaited them there. They eventually found a shallow dip in the ground where they rested. There was a large rock was behind them that cast light shade. There was bracken and moss and dried leaves that had blown over from the forest, which must be close by, and they made comfortable makeshift nests and covered themselves with the bracken, though it would be a weak defense for the cold and enemies.

Lizardclaw told them how she and Lilytrickle had fought Duckfang, and how she had killed him. It went silent. And then, as if a switch went off, they fell into a sacred sleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lilytrickle awoke on a rock. _Where am I?_ She wondered. Just then, she became aware that she was shrouded by a thick, impenetrable fog. She was in StarClan, she gathered. And the rest of the surviving tributes must be in the fog.

All of a sudden, the fog cleared slightly directly in front of her (and nowhere else) to reveal a flat surface, It glowed and flickered to life, and then Tigershade's name popped up. 'Tigershade, WindClan.' it read. His picture was shown. Her Clanmate was dead, but t had to be done. Nevertheless, she felt a pang of remorse. Next, the screen turned black and then showed up a picture of Duckfang. 'Duckfang, ShadowClan.'. Well, that wasn't a surprise. Lilytrickle just wondered how they'd gotten the body. They had looked away for one second…

She was distracted by the net name. 'Darkflicker, RiverClan.'. Interesting. And finally, there was 'Adderglow, ThunderClan.' She wondered who had killed him. But she barely had time to think if any of her allies had had blood on their paws, or more specifically, claws, before the fog obscured her vision and she grew unconscious once more.

 **List of Surviving Tributes:**

 **ThunderClan**

Petalflash

Eaglestorm

Oakstreak

Copperflash

 **RiverClan**

Leafshadow

Palestrike

Sunlily

Turtlewing

 **WindClan**

Flowerpebble

Shadedpetal

Lilytrickle

Blackrush

 **ShadowClan**

Doverun

Lizardclaw

Buzzardear

Ripplefang

 **Author's Note: Please review sponsorships. They may not show up soon. If I don't accept them, I don't think the characters need them, or it won't help the plot right. I do have a winner (and all the rest of the places) mapped out. However, don't forget to go on my profile and submit to my poll who you're betting on.**

 **Thanks and love!**

 **Briardust**


	9. Chapter 8- At the Drop of a Petal

Leafshadow stretched, back arching, out of her sleep. After the visit from StarClan, they had set up watches. She had taken the second, so she had gotten a nice long sleep after. Oakstreak, who was currently on, nodded at her. He then padded over. No sooner had he reached her then Lilytrickle, Lizardclaw, and Palestrike awoke.

Leafshadow had favored having Palestrike as an ally; they had trained together for several moons before she had been made a warrior. She had then kept up a semi-steady connection with Palepaw before she became Palestrike. She was interrupted from her train of thought when Lilytrickle suggested they eat a rabbit. They all split the largest one, a buck, to conserve food.

"We should move on." Oakstreak said after they had finished. Palestrike looked doubtful. "Are you sure? We've got good shelter here." She said.

Lizardclaw, however, took Oakstreak's side. "We can't stay in one place for too long." She argued. "We'd be too vulnerable. We've got to move out while we can."

"And lug all this prey?" Snapped Lilytrickle. "I'm jumping for joy." Lizardclaw hissed at her, and Lilytrickle snarled.

"Stop!" Leafshadow found herself saying harshly. "Let's have half of us scout, and two of us stay behind. If we find a better place, we all come back and then gather the rest." She looked around. No objection. Perfect.

Lizardclaw, in fact, nodded. "Sorry. We're a bit stressed." The last sentence was slightly sarcastic, and all of them purred. "I'll go with Palestrike and Lilytrickle. Leafshadow and Oakstreak, stay here." Leafshadow was a bit irked that she didn't go out on her own plan, but she knew there was no point arguing. The party of three left, leaving her and Oakstreak alone. They settled down, Oakstreak sitting whilst she stood.

There was silence for a while before Leafshadow noticed that his claws glistened with blood, and that he had some scratches on his flank.  
"Where did you get those?"

The words were barely out of her mouth when, by where they had all started, there was a sudden boom. They both froze, on alert, and turned towards the sound.

Then a cat started screaming.

Every instinct inside of Leafshadow told her to run to her allies, but she knew that she had to stay and guard. Anyways, she told herself, better for me if they die. A few less to kill later. But she couldn't hide her feeling of guilt as another thunderclap went off. She barely exchanged a glance with Oakstreak before Lilytrickle, Palestrike, and Lizardclaw. They looked frightened, but unharmed. All of them relaxed once they saw each other.

"What happened?" Leafshadow hissed.

Palestrike's eyes were wide as she told them. "We circled through the east side, near the mountains, the way opposite of the forest. We were about to decide on a place right near a lake when there was a shriek from behind us." Her gaze grew frightened again, obviously reliving the terror of the moment. "We flipped around, waiting for an attack, but we saw that through some bramble bushes behind us, Petalflash, Flowerpebble, and Shadedpetal had attacked Doverun, Buzzardear, and Blackrush. Blackrush charged Petalflash, and before our eyes, he snapped her neck." She was unable to finish, so Lilytrickle continued.

"Then everything exploded. Flowerpebble screamed and ran for it, but Buzzardear got to her first." She explained. "Shadedpetal was all alone, but she managed to kill Doverun before she got away. She's on the run now. We weren't sure where she went, so we came here." She finished.

There was silence for a moment.

 _I wonder how they collected the bodies._ Thought Leafshadow.

"What was that, Leafshadow?" Asked Palestrike.

"Nothing." She said, embarrassed she had spoken out loud. "I was just wondering… the bodies…" She trailed off.

"But that's the thing." Said Lizardclaw. "We looked away for one moment, to try to see what had happened to Shadedpetal- and they were gone." She looked them all in the eyes before continuing. "All I know is that they have a way to remove us." She said, words hanging for a moment before Leafshadow caught on.

"And we don't have to be dead for them to do it."

List of Surviving Tributes:

ThunderClan

Eaglestorm

Oakstreak

Copperflash

RiverClan

Leafshadow

Palestrike

Sunlily

Turtlewing

WindClan

Shadedpetal

Lilytrickle

Blackrush

ShadowClan

Lizardclaw

Buzzardear

Ripplefang

Author's Note: Please review sponsorships. They may not show up soon. If I don't accept them, I don't think the characters need them, or it won't help the plot right. I do have a winner (and all the rest of the places) mapped out. However, don't forget to go on my profile and submit to my poll who you're betting on.


	10. 9- Run For The Hills (Under the Oaktree)

Oakstreak watched in his head as the scene from last night replayed over and over in his head. The list of tributes. The story.

That they could die at any moment was only now dawning on him. Where did they go in StarClan, he wondered? Surely not where the others were, at least until the games were over. But then where? And what if their killers soon joined them, ready for another round?

Oakstreak didn't want to die. He doubted any of them really did. He thought he might have a shot at winning at first- but who was he, really? Just a random tom, thrown into this mess. He glanced over at his sleeping allies. They trusted him. Couldn't he just kill them now? No. If he made one wrong move, a cry would wake up the rest. Or a thunderclap. And then where would he be? No allies, no resources- he would have to stay there for the time being.

He sniffed the air again. Nothing. What did he expect, really? There was a strong scent of rabbit in the air, though. Maybe prey?

No, not theirs. And rabbits don't stealthily sneak up on you in the Games…

His yowl of panic was drowned out in screeches as six cats leapt out at him.

 _Six?_

But there was Copperflash- there was Eaglestorm- and wasn't that Ripplefang? And Blackrush, and Turtlewing, and Buzzardear, too?

But it didn't matter who. It mattered how to get away.

They were sorely outnumbered, but already the rest were up for a fight. Palestrike slashed at Turtlewing and Eaglestorm, snarling. Copperflash now faced a snarling Lilytrickle, while Lizardclaw was sinking her teeth into Blackrush. Buzzardear launched himself at Oakstreak, who ducked and got a good swipe in before he was knocked to the ground. Struggling up, he bowled him into Eaglestorm, knocking them both down. To the side, he saw Copperflash with some prey and packs of herbs in his mouth. So that's what the sneaky little snakes were after. Lilytrickle was battling alongside Palestrike against three, so Oakstreak knew he was alone with him. Copperflash saw him and gave a yowl of warning, but not before Oakstreak was upon him. They tussled, pinning each other, until Oakstreak sliced him one good, deep gash in the chest through belly area, and the thunderclap banged in his ears.

The fight all around him paused, and then they all scattered. But Ripplefang wasn't fast enough. With a snarl, Palestrike leapt onto him and ripped out his throat. He twitched and went still, and they heard his boom.

The rest were long gone. They wanted to evaluate their wounds, but they needed to get away before the blood attracted any hidden predators. After Lizardclaw's suggestion, they trudged away to the forest, some limping, some simply shaken from the fight.

Soon they reached the borderline to the forest. They barely dragged themselves in before they collapsed. Oakstreak looked over at their panting bodies while Palestrike looked them all over with Leafshadow. They treated each other- Leafshadow had a bad leg and several scratches, and Palestrike had a few deep, long ones- and then attended to the rest. Lilytrickle had a vicious swipe across her face and a few more minor wounds, and Lizardclaw's right hind paw was bitten to the bone, as well as her front left shoulder being scratched up and having a chest gash. The two she-cats pronounced that everyone would live, which was ironic, seeing as possibly none of them would.

After a day of rest, they decided to journey on. Oakstreak, being the strongest (seeing as he only had minor cuts and scratches,) led on.

That day, they kept close to the center where they had started, so it didn't take too long to reach the hills. But the fields were lush and green, and they found a great little shallow near a river and the border of the trees. They settled down under a large oak. Oakstreak requested Palestrike and he tame a walk. He knew it sounded like a murder plan, but she agreed readily.

The walked in silence for a moment, admiring the hills in the falling sunlight, before getting down to business.

Palestrike turned to him.

"Why have you brought me here?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to seem casual.

"Will you be my ally?" This seemed to take her by surprise, and she looked confused. She tilted her head.

He explained. "Well, I think that once one or two or maybe even three more die…" She flinched- "We could go off on our own. We're strong enough to win…"

Palestrike opened her mouth to speak, an indecisive look on her face, when they heard a large rumbling. Suddenly, Oakstreak noticed a wall of large, round boulders on the top of the hill that he was sure had not been there before.

And they were tumbling down right on top of them.

There was no escape. They screamed and ran back towards the makeshift camp, but Oakstreak knew they wouldn't make it in time. They had just caught sight of the three worried faces of their allies when the sound got louder. He glanced behind him and saw the largest boulder right behind them. He screeched and propelled himself forward. Palestrike hadn't stopped and looked back, and he suddenly realized that the one simple mistake was going to cost him his life.

For an absurd moment, all he could think of was the cats who would watch this in StarClan. How would they react? Surely StarClan would be more interested in him then the rest.

He was on camera now…

That was his last thought before he was plunged into the silence and darkness that accompanies death.

 **List of Surviving Tributes:**

 **ThunderClan**

Petalflash

Eaglestorm

 **RiverClan**

Leafshadow

Palestrike

Sunlily

Turtlewing

 **WindClan**

Lilytrickle

Blackrush

 **ShadowClan**

Lizardclaw

Buzzardear

Author's Note: Please review sponsorships. They may not show up soon. If I don't accept them, I don't think the characters need them, or it won't help the plot right. I do have a winner (and all the rest of the places) mapped out. However, don't forget to go on my profile and submit to my poll who you're betting on.


	11. Chapter 10- Clan Ties

There was no time to mourn. That was decided. Palestrike looked back at Oakstreak's body one last time before glancing away. When she looked back, he was gone.

It was all her fault. That she felt in her heart. But was it enough to count for a kill? Suddenly her paws grew weary. How much blood had they spilled? She started to count.

Ripplefang. He had been her first. Ripplefang, with kits at home… ShadowClan would thirst for her blood.

Was that really all? She felt like she had murdered millions in the simple death strike then she actually had.

Of course, Oakstreak…

That night she was only further haunted by her nightmares. StarClan sent them the fallen tributes. Copperflash, Ripplefang, Oakstreak… Their names and faces haunted her. Thunder, Wind, and Shadow had fallen today.

But the River stood strong.

She found herself remembering who was left. Sunlily, Shadedpetal, Blackrush, Lizardclaw, Lilytrickle, Turtlewing, Eaglestorm, Leafshadow, Buzzardear… and her. Somehow she didn't feel like she counted as a remaining tribute. She had entered as a tribute. She was something different now.

And the dead, some she had killed, and some she had watched die… some deaths remained a mystery to her. Tigershade, Darkflicker… who had killed them? Lizardclaw had killed Duckfang… and Adderglow had been Oakstreak's. Then in the next fight… she shuddered. Petalflash had been killed by Blackrush, Flowerpebble by Buzzardear, Doverun by Shadedpetal in revenge.

Revenge What counted as revenge anymore? Who would she kill next, as revenge to somebody or other? Who had she lost? She could think of nobody but her fallen Clanmates… and her.

Yes, she had lost her. The arena had made sure of that. And it made you wonder. Did you really want to win these Games?

And in the last fight, the ambush, Copperflash had been taken down by Oakstreak. It had prompted her to kill Ripplefang…

Hang on a second. Oakstreak had killed more… He had fueled the fire to allow herself to kill Ripplefang. One death wasn't enough. Two meant business. Two meant closer to home.

But does that mean that Oakstreak was the bad guy all along? Saving her… a ruse. He had wanted her as an ally, didn't he? What an undefeatable team they would have made.

Until he killed her.

She shook her head. No, there was no one to blame but herself. And if she really thought she could win, wouldn't she do the same thing?

No one but herself.

She was awoken from her thoughts as Lizardclaw suggested that, because they had had good sleep, they should get a move on. She nodded. Her sentimental, half-awakened state was over. The rest of them started heading into the hills.

"No!" She cried. They all looked back at her, shocked, as she explained. "We saw yesterday how lethal the hills can be. Let's… go back. Into the woods. We'll take a circuit route back to the other edge, by the river and the grasses, where we can be safe." She cast a glance at Leafshadow, who shared her longing for water under her paws. She nodded. After a silence, the rest agreed, too.

And so they set out again, minus one of the strongest of their number. They tried to forget the pain in their wounds and the absence of the tom as they trudged forward.

They were about halfway through the forest when it happened.

One moment they were dragging, exhausted from the trek, and the next moment, they were under attack. Apparently, Turtlewing and Blackrush had found Sunlily and Shadedpetal.

Apparently, they wanted an attack as bad as they did.

Palestrike centered herself and viciously swiped out at Sunlily as her Clanmate pounced. She hit right above the she-cat's eye, and blood trickled down. She had a slash of satisfaction before the golden tabby had pounced on her. She ducked underneath her, twisting around, but she received a hard blow to her hindquarters. She snarled and twisted around as Sunlily bit down onto her tail. She cuffed her over the ears, claws unsheathed, and grabbed onto her back, pinning her down. Around her, the fighting ensued. She looked down into the green eyes of her opponent as she struggled. She got in a few good blows, and she knew she had limited time.

She also knew what she was about to do next would be seen as crooked. But to her it was an apology.

"May StarClan light your path." She said, and she was in Sunlily's eyes that she understood. "Brackenstorm… tell him goodbye when you win, 'kay?" She muttered. Palestrike nodded and, with a flick of her paw, silenced her for good. The deafening boom almost deafened her. The cats around her didn't even pause. The encounter had only lasted about a minute. She jumped off the body and looked around. Now the enemy was outnumbered four to three.

Or, it seemed, four against two against one. All of a sudden, Turtlewing swirled around and ripped open Shadedpetal's throat. Her face barely registered the shock before a thunderclap split the air. Palestrike grinned at Turtlewing, her old friend, before a boom startled her and she turned to see Lizardclaw standing over Blackrush's broken corpse. The she-cat turned on Turtlewing, but Palestrike stopped her. She leaped in front of him. "No." She hissed. Just this once, he got her pity. But would it work?

Turtlewing didn't stick around to find out. He turned tail and ran, leaving his dead allies behind him, along with two she-cats with murderous glares.

That night, right before the showing of the dead tributes, there was a thunderclap. Palestrike and Leafshadow woke up alone, looking around. Neither Lilytrickle nor Lizardclaw were to be found.

Soon they knew why Lilytrickle was on the run when Lizardclaw's face and name flashed into StarClan's register. They were truly alone.

 **List of Surviving Tributes:**

 **ThunderClan**

Eaglestorm

 **RiverClan**

Leafshadow

Palestrike

Turtlewing

 **WindClan**

Lilytrickle

 **ShadowClan**

Buzzardear


	12. Chapter 11- Tread Lightly

Palestrike stretched. She splayed her claws out onto the dirt, pleased at the way they sunk in deeper and deeper. She stood up and carefully, one by one, extracted her claws from the ground. She looked around, surprised only to find Leafshadow for a moment, before it all rushed back to her.

Sunlily. Shadedpetal. Blackrush. Lizardclaw… and now Lilytrickle had run, far far away, to escape inevitable wrath.

Leafshadow, too, woke up and stretched. It also seemed to take her a moment to remember everything, figure it all out. She cast a wary glance over at Palestrike.

"So." She hissed. She started walking in a circle. Instinctively, Palestrike moved along in, too, opposite of her former Clanmate.

"So." She replied calmly.

"Waited 'till I was up?" Leafshadow sneered. "Wanted a real fight?"

She hissed in response.

"I bet that was it." Leafshadow snarled. "Well, guess what? It's not going to happen, no matter how good your training score was." And then she pounced.

Palestrike snarled as she was forced down onto the ground. She swiped at the muzzle of her Clanmate, sending a spray of blood over the brown ground. Her opponent screeched before swiping in return, but she rolled her head to the side before taking advantage of her being on three legs and pushing her off.

Leafshadow scrambled up in time to catch Palestrike's blow in her ear, which split open like butter. Hot, red blood oozed out of the wound. She swiped back, and Palestrike felt heat flash on her shoulder as she struck home. She rolled away as Leafshadow jumped on her, feeling the earth shudder as she landed heavily on dirt. She barely had time to get up, however, before she was bitten hard on her tail. She screamed and bit Leafshadow's back left leg in return. They scuffled for a while awkwardly, trying to get more purchase, before springing apart once more. Leafshadow snarled, and then Palestrike knew she wasn't ready for this fight. She couldn't kill her.

Yet.

She turned tail and fled, running towards the hill for a bit before doubling back. She couldn't go there. Not after Oakstreak. After running and running, she found herself in the long, tall grasses, and realized she was very, very hungry. She had been used to the prey provided from the beginning of the games, and now realized how much she had relied on it.

Her stomach growled as she caught whiff of a rabbit. She stalked it down, whiskers almost trembling with excitement.

It never saw it coming. She snapped its neck as rays of sunshine poured down on her. They were almost uncomfortably hot, but now quite there yet. She basked in them, stuffing herself. She relaxed, and felt the heat subside. A cloud had passed over the pretty sun.

She was still in a daze when a voice spoke from overhead.

She jumped up, screeching, and whirled in a circle three times; first searching the ground, then eye level, and finally the sky. No one was there. The voice continued.

"Sorry for the interruption. We hope we haven't startled you." It continued smoothly.

Palestrike frowned. That was Amberstar's voice, of the Gamemakers. What was she doing here? Had she somehow screwed up something without rules? She looked around once more. No one.

"I'm sure most of you are spinning around right now, trying to find us." Most of... us?

"This is being broadcasted to the whole arena from StarClan." She breathed out. A StarClan cat.

"But we've gotten off topic. The point is, we've put something each of you wants- food and medicine and something special for each of you, personal advantages- right back where you've started. A feast, of some sorts. In the big stone cave, right in the center of the arena. Now remember, since this message isn't personal, it's most likely every cat will be gathered. Tread lightly." And with that, the voice faded away.

Palestrike's head whirled, trying to process all the new information. In her jumble of mixed thoughts, negatives and positives, game strategy against what was for her in the center, one sharp thought suddenly stood out.

 _I have to go to the feast._

There was no time for doubt, no time for questions. That much was clear from what Amberstar had said. The time to go was now.

She stalked forward, silent as a panther, clearing space easily. She quickly buried the remains of her food. She licked her paws clean, lapped at a nearby stream, and slipped into the long, tall grasses.

She soon reached the center of the arena. She stared out from the last strands of grass into the center. She could see the cave, so close, yet so far. She could reach it soon enough… right?

' _Tread lightly.'_ The words rang through her head. Did it mean hold back? Or not to pick fights? She barely had time to decide to wait it out before a streak of tortoiseshell practically flew by her, a smear of green for her eyes. Lilytrickle raced out into the middle of the field, obviously trying to beat anyone who could steal what she needed before she could get to it. She was at the cave already. She ran out with some sort of root in her mouth, racing into the clearing. Palestrike put one paw out, unsure of what to do, when Lilytrickle promptly fell into the ground.

There was no sound- just a square opening in the ground, a hole that had not been there before. It sealed itself closed, and then reopened. It was obvious what it was trying to say. Then the thunder finally arrived. Palestrike drew back her paw.

So this was how they were removing the bodies.

The hole attracted all eyes. Palestrike saw a tentative paw reach out, far to her left near the forest border, and prod the ground in front of them. The earth didn't shift. Turtlewing stepped out confidently onto the square patch of grass. He was fine.

He then stuck his left forepaw out to his left.

A second of silence before he almost fell into another hole that had opened up in the ground.

Soon Buzzardear had joined from far to Palestrike's right, near the river in the grasses. The silver tom confidently poked and prodded, sending earth flushing down to create a larger and larger abyss.

After a few minutes Eaglestorm's gray shape was helping as well. And finally, Palestrike saw Leafshadow's calico form tentatively join in.

She snorted. What a bunch of idiots. What could they really need that much?

 _Food._ Her stomach said. _A feast, in the middle…_

She nodded, almost in consent. Yes, food. Not all had been as fortunate as her, to have only starved once… yes, food.

There was a screech as Leafshadow almost fell. She regained herself quickly.

Most of the other cats were almost to the cave now. She eyed them all. Turtlewing was struggling but cautious. Buzzardear wasn't that far away- maybe a couple fox-lengths- and Eaglestorm was close behind. Leafshadow, however, had abruptly stopped. Suspiciously, she looked around. Soon, Palestrike saw why.

After every leap, the ground was resealing itself. When Buzzardear got to the cave, he ran back with humongous dock leaves filled with, presumably, food and medicine, only to find a full field staring back at him. It looked like a clear shot now…

He tentatively stepped forward to where his scent trail led him…

And promptly was dropped into a hole.

Well, almost. His claw caught the edge, and he hauled himself back up as the ground resealed, finding no prey. He stepped on it again, and found the same result. Again and again he tried, each time taking longer and longer to climb back up. Eventually he just gave up and stared at the ground, puzzled.

Palestrike wasn't as puzzled as he was. She darted through the grass over to where he started. By that time, Turtlewing was experiencing the same dilemma.

She stepped one foot onto the square Buzzardear had started on. It fell away. She tried the one to the left. It stayed firm, and she hopped on. But when she tried the ones without Buzzardear's scent all around her, they all fell away. She had been sure that a false trail had been laid before, but…

She tested Buzzardear's scent trail. It still fell. She looked around. The nearest one was too far away… She retreated back into the bushes.

Somehow, by lucking it with some trips and falls, Buzzardear and Turtlewing had made their ways back, respectively, with Leafshadow close behind. Eaglestorm seemed to have given up. Buzzardear was approaching Palestrike now, so she turned and ran back to where she had first started. She soon started to creep, realizing it was about where Turtlewing had re-entered.

Soon she picked up on cat scent. But did it belong to the one she seeked? She stalked forward again, sliding her paws noiselessly over the rough ground. Soon she found him. So easy. So simple. So… vulnerable.

Turtlewing sat motionless, staring away from her. The dark brown tabby wouldn't suspect a thing. Not a thing…

Not until it was too late…

She only had a half second of decision before she pounced. She leaped onto his back, flipping him around and pinning him down. She had nothing left to say to him. They shared eye contact, and she was momentarily softened by the way his gray eyes pleaded with her amber ones…

Her claws raked through his throat, sliding gracefully through the fur and ripping through what was underneath. Soon he was finished. A thunderclap told her so. She ran away before anyone could find her. She closed her eyes at the first camp she'd ever made, by the rock. Palestrike slipped into a deep sleep, never knowing what would happen in the morrow...


	13. Chapter 12- Countdown

Buzzardear shook his head, momentarily confused. Where was he? Why was he lying in dirt? He took a second to collect himself, remembering where he was. Underground. At the hills, back in his camp. He had collected five mice, three large dock leaves, cobwebs, some sprigs of coltsfoot, and a cluster of horsetail. His wound from the beginning, when fighting Flowerpebble, had been small but effective. She had slashed open his chest before he killed her. Soon enough, it had gotten infected.

Buzzardear shook himself out of the memories and started chewing some stalks into a poultice. He knew it helped infections and bleeding, as well as cobwebs. He finished soon and shakily spit it out onto a dock leaf- he didn't know why they hadn't used ivy to hold things, but it was no use wondering- and started vigorously licking his chest. He knew from experience that it would draw out- yes, there came some pus. He only had a small amount of time before it scabbed over again, so he licked off the pus and applied the horsetail. He sighed in relief as the initial sting soothed out into a pain relief, and put cobwebs on it, sturdily wrapping it.

Buzzardear then padded out of a small, slanted tunnel into the sunlight. He squinted his eyes at first, but then adjusted. It was quickly getting hotter. He padded over to a small stream, trickling in his stretch over stones, and stepped in cautiously. They soothed his ripped pads- he needed to put some coltsfoot on later- and cooled him down. Buzzardear sighed, wishing he could lay down and roll but knowing the poultice would come off, and sat down. That was the closest he was going to get, anyway. He wondered why no sponsorships were coming in- probably because they thought that he wasn't going to win, and there were a bunch of unused ones waiting to be delivered to the cats who had gone. Though Buzzardear puzzled, he had long ago given up pondering where they went after they died in the Games.

A dislodged rock jolted him back into the present, and Buzzardear eased his body out of the stream and into his den. He quickly applied coltsfoot as a thick paste on his pads, but only gave himself a minute or so to sink in before washing excess off in the river. He left a bit, though, just not enough to leave tracks, he supposed. He was going to go hunting today.

Buzzardear carefully ripped up a bush several cat-lengths away and re-planted it firmly over the entrance to his den. He had grabbed out a mouse, and swallowed it down in gulps before going on a three minute walk to pee. The silver tom then drank once more at his stream before setting out, half-full and content. He knew where Eaglestorm had camped, near the fringe of the trees far away from the center. He had watched her travel back, alone, from the fray, slipping in and out of the trees. ThunderClan cats could move.

As Buzzardear traveled, he contemplated how the scores stood. WindClan had no tributes left. Lilytrickle had been their last. He was the remainder of the ShadowClan tributes, and Leafshadow and Palestrike were RiverClan. Eaglestorm was from ThunderClan, but he hardly counted her. If all went well, she'd be dead soon…

After an hour or so of traveling, he stopped to eat and drink. He somehow managed to scrape up a fish from a pond before drinking out of it, though it wasn't much to his taste. Minnows, he preferred. They were almost too fishy, but not too much that you couldn't concentrate on the rest of the flavor, unlike the salmon he had caught. Buzzardear licked his paws clean and moved forward, quieter now, because he knew Eaglestorm's camp couldn't be too far. She hadn't struck him as terribly fast or athletic.

To his surprise, Buzzardear moved for a good fifteen minutes before scenting the she-cat. Maybe his preconceived notions of her speed had been inaccurate. He shook speculation from his head as he zeroed in on her trail. He had no room for anything but the hunt at this point.

Eaglestorm's camp was five cat-lengths inside the woods, in a small hollow where scraggly bushes covered most of the top and moss grew down the casual slope. Eaglestorm was nestled down at the bottom, in a shallow cove in the earth that was covered by moss. At first Buzzardear couldn't see her, but then she slowly stretched and scratched her way out. He ducked back behind a browning bramble bush and spied as she picked up a rabbit from underneath some leaves and started gulping it down.

Buzzardear almost sighed in impatience before catching himself from years of hunting. Waiting it out was the trick, he reassured himself. But wouldn't it be good to get her while she was eating and sleepy, not yet energized? He had just shifted a bit to get into a good hunting crouch before he heard a rustle from across the dip. He looked up to see green eyes looking down at his prey. _Leafshadow._ He thought. Buzzardear's full attention now shifted to the she-cat, who appeared not to have noticed him.

He had just focused in on her camouflaged body before she pounced.

Leafshadow landed on Eaglestorm hard, smashing her into the ground. Eaglestorm shrieked and flipped over, slashing at her opponent's muzzle. Leafshadow barely winced as the needle-sharp claws dug into her, snarling and lunging in for the killing bite. Eaglestorm barely had time to scream before it was over and a thunderclap rang out.

Buzzardear couldn't believe his luck. His target had just been taken care of by his next one, wounding her while she didn't know he was there. His tail flicked slightly as Leafshadow started washing her paws. Arrogant little furball. He posed himself, judged the distance, and leaped onto the calico pelt.

Leafshadow screeched, having not anticipated the move. She snarled, twisting underneath him to rake his chest. Buzzardear felt his gash re-open in a flash of agony that became duller but pulsing, blood and new pus oozing. He snarled in defiance, ripping open her ear, before she threw him off, raced to her feet, and slashed open his shoulder blade. Buzzardear was just about to retaliate when a cream figure hopped into the fray.

 _Palestrike._

Now everything was chaos. Three cats faced each other, two Clanmates turned bitter rivals, one rival that was never anything more. They all panted for a moment, and then Leafshadow threw herself back at Buzzardear.

He had never been caught more off guard. Leafshadow bit hard into his neck, and he felt woozy as blood rushed out of him in exhilaration. By the time he had regained his senses, she was on top of him, pinning him down. But Buzzardear wouldn't have it. He thrusted her off and leaped onto her back, digging his claws into her fur and through her skin. Leafshadow screeched and tried to push him off, but to no avail. She then rolled over as he bit the scruff of her neck, releasing his claws and flipping her hard into the moss and hard-packed dirt. Leafshadow banged her head hard against a sharp rock and lay still, though her flanks still betrayed her subtle breath. Buzzardear leaped onto her to finish her off, but suddenly Palestrike was in his way, shoving him aside with her shoulder in a giant heave. He stood, watching in awe, as she placed herself between himself and Leafshadow, not even pausing to finish her off. It took Buzzardear a minute to think that maybe she was protecting her Clanmate. He staggered back, surprised, and she leaped onto him, claws scoring down his flank as he struggled to regain control. But Palestrike wouldn't let him. Flipping him over onto his belly, she raked across his hindquarters before pinning him down. He pawed at her stomach uselessly as she stared menacingly down at him. Her amber eyes glowed as she leaned in for a killing bite.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Buzzardear really did not want to die- at least, not then. Adrenaline rushed through his body, and he threw her off with such force that she hit the far wall, skidding to the ground. He took the chance, racing over to finish off Leafshadow, who was slightly coming to. The thunderclap didn't register for a while in his brain, and then he and Palestrike were eye to eye.

The cream she-cat raised her tail, threatening him. Buzzardear hissed in response before Palestrike swiped at him, ripping open his ear. He pounced onto her, forcing Palestrole down, before she struggled up and slashed open his other shoulder, injuring him once more. Buzzardear's head cleared. He couldn't win this battle. Not wounded. Not now. He had to leave.

Without another thought, he leapt up the sides of the hollow and ran out into the forest, leaving a trail of blood behind him.


	14. Chapter 13- Playing Games

Palestrike watched in disbelief as Buzzardear ran away, leaving her alone with the corpses. She looked around, puzzled. There were more then she remembered… scores of them, drowning her. Her mother. Her father. Ripplefang, Sunlily, Turtlewing. Even her prep team buried her in the rising flood of the dead. Her Clanmates, her fellow tributes… everyone she knew. Only Buzzardear was absent. Kits who screamed for her help but always seemed to die anyways… cats fro stories of TigerClan and LionClan and LeopardClan and such. Rogues, kittypets, loners. Rabbits. StarClan cats and Dark Forest cats alike, frowning and drowning and drowning in their own fur, which faded into nothing until they left just sacks of bones that burst open and clattered all around Palestrike, pulling her down into the tide of faces and bodies that resurfaced, whole again, and started the nightmare all over again, each time somehow adding fresh horrors. Her screams were drowned by theirs, by the dying. Over and over and over…

Palestrike awoke, screaming, when rain gushed around her, lifting her up. For a second she was still in her dream, still drowning, but the icy cold sheets of water woke her up. She scrambled out of the pit, shaking her pelt out, and had barely found a bush to shelter in before StarClan sent her the blessed sleep of the tributes, to show the dead.

It was almost as painful seeing their faces the second time around. Eaglestorm, ThunderClan. Leafshadow, RiverClan. Was that really all? There seemed to be so many more. Palestrike woke up from this blessed sleep into a worse, murkier reality. For a second she contemplated, focusing on not the future, but the past. And even worse, the present that seemed so far away it was surreal.

All of ShadowClan must be grieving now. Duckfang… Oakstreak had killed him to save Palestrike. How they must hate her now, so close to winning. So close. But no, not all of ShadowClan grieves. Buzzardear is one of their number. If she won, they would never recover. Never treat RiverClan with fairness and respect again.

She had killed Ripplefang from their Clan, too. Who had kits. Who had a mate that may have thought he would come home. That now has to raise her kits alone.

Her Clan had done so much damage. Leafshadow had killed Eaglestorm, from ThunderClan. Sunlily was killed by a Clanmate. Brackenstorm would be furious. Turtlewing, who killed Shadedpetal of WindClan. She had killed him too. Darkflicker hadn't had any chance to kill. He had been gone third. By Adderglow, who had been killed by Oakstreak, who killed Copperflash, from ThunderClan.

Her allies. She hadn't allied with her Clan except for Leafshadow. Who Buzzardear had killed. Lizardclaw was from ShadowClan, the Clan that had killed so many others. And Lilytrickle from WindClan, who had killed Leafshadow. Her Clan, hurt again. Leafshadow, from her Clan. Now that she thought about it, Leafshadow and Darkflicker were her only Clanmates Palestrike hadn't personally killed. But Adderglow was in Oakstreak's Clan, who she had allied with.

Oakstreak, killed in the arena. Oakstreak, who had sought her out and asked to ally. How had the crowd been bored by that? He had killed someone from his own Clan, who had killed someone from hers. And yet, he wanted her. He had killed Copperflash, too. From ThunderClan. His Clan. Oakstreak, and Palestrike, the traitors who hurt everybody by being friends. Yes, friends was an appropriate term. They had both killed two, from their Clan. Half of her kills. Her kin. Sunlily was her friend, Darkflicker had trained with her. Turtlewing, her practical brother. Dead, dead. Her ally's kill seemed like hers now.

ShadowClan had a reason to hate her. ThunderClan. But Flowerpebble was killed by Buzzardear. Maybe WindClan didn't completely resent her? Blackrush, their own tribute, had killed Petalflash, another of theirs. Lilytrickle's death was an accident. Tigershade was killed by Shadedpetal. They surely must hate themselves more.

But no. Shadedpetal was all Turtlewing's, all RiverClan's. But maybe it wasn't enough.

Nothing was enough anymore.

Palestrike hadn't even realized it had stopped raining until it started again. She shook her head, considering her options. Buzzardear wouldn't find her. She would have to find him. She licked her wounds, wincing at the pain, and stretched. It seemed like eons, but she managed to scrape up a rabbit. It felt good in her stomach as she traveled. She followed Buzzardear's scent, careful to act like she was on top of things. No question the warriors at home were watching this live this time, eyes on her. Maybe a brief cut to Buzzardear once and awhile, if he was traveling. The weariness in her bones form malnourishment and fitful sleep wore at her, making the journey three times as hard. It couldn't weaken her resolve, though.

She was going to win this thing.

Palestrike marched on as the day grew warmer, filling the air with heat and ceasing the rain. She hopped through or around puddles, tracking invisible scent. All she knew is that her prey was near the mountains. Her stomach turned at the thought of the spot of Oakstreak's death, but she marched on.

At dusk she stopped to rest. Palestrike found a juniper bush with a hollow inside that she managed to push her way into, earning a few thorns to her side. She scraped together a collection of dead leaves and a bit of shriveled moss before going under.

No deaths that night, obviously. Palestrike woke up to a bright, cloudless day. This was the day, she thought. The day she left or died. It didn't take her long before a scent drew her up sharp, ears up and fur on edge.

Buzzardear.

He stalked, smiling, out of the shadows, and in the moment it took for her to recognize him, he was on top of her.

Snarling, biting, kicking, screeching. Growling, clawing, warm, wet blood. Pain. Repeat. Palestrike was submitted into this vicious cycle, but she fought back with a vengeance. Ripping pelt underneath her paws, biting down on scarred flesh. Twisting around and raking claws on belly. Getting a torn ear in return.

She didn't know how long the fight lasted, but after a while… was it her imagination, or was Buzzardear slowing down? Losing momentum? After a while more, she decided he was slowing down.

But so was Palestrike. After a while, her brain felt like it had fallen into the consistency of mud. Her thoughts whirled around, consisting of things like _Swipe. Ooh, that hurt. Duck now- Great StarClan, you're useless. You had a great shot at his belly there. A twirl? Nice touch, goofball. Waste your energy. Smart move. He shouldn't have done that. Pow! Nice hit, worthless. You're getting a bit better. Bang! Crash! Boom! You're killing it!_ and so on.

She never saw it coming, the sudden end to the fight. She had just pounced, hoping to get a good grip on his shoulders, but when she did he rolled on top of her. Not one to be defeated, she swung her body around, toppling him over and landing her above him.

Now Buzzardear stared at her, eyes wide and scared. "Please." Came the hoarse whisper. "Fast. Please."

Palestrike just stared at him. Was she really about to kill him? Take his life for her to prosper? Seemed just like something she would do. Despicable, but true. She started to step off of the tom. When she had finished, he slowly got up and brushed himself off. Buzzardear looked at Palestrike, suspicious.

"What. Was. THAT?!" Came the scream. He glared at her. "What kind of fight was that? You had me pinned. You had me beaten. And yet you let me live." He started to pace. It was surprising how easily he turned his back to her to whirl around. Too easy, almost. Unaware of her discomfort, he continued. "How weak can you be? You don't deserve this. You don't deserve anything. Not your life." He finally stopped.

"That you for the gift of letting me take that away from you."

The sudden attack wasn't enough warning, not enough time. She was pinned to the ground before she could do so much as think. His paw raised above her, ready to rip open her throat once and for all, and she had an epiphany.

Buzzardear knew that the audience wanted a good show. That they would be miserable without. That they thirsted for blood. He had known that she would pull away if she pleaded. To be attacked for her mercy, and to die at his claws. To win like a victory should.

In other words, he had used her.

And it was this final revelation that gave her the strength to fight. She pushed him off of her, toppling him, and had lunged and ripped out his throat before he could even blink. A thunderclap thanked her. She slumped to the ground, just relieved that it was over. She heard one last thing before she passed out, Amberstar's voice.

"She-cats and toms, I present to you Palestrike of RiverClan, and the victor of the First Thinning Games!"


	15. Apologies

Story so I don't get attacked: Palestrike breathed. **The End**

HEY GUYS! So I just wanted to apologize for not bringing your suggestions into account. I forgot about the deathberries until the end, and I only then discovered the herbs for Buzzardear, though I'm sure he just got them offscreen.

Thanks for all the reviews!  
Love Briardust


	16. Chapter 14- Pain

Palestrike blinked open her eyes, slipping out of the restful, deep sleep she had been paralyzed in for who knows how long. For a moment she didn't know what had happened- or she did, but she didn't know how she ended up in a earthy den without any entrance or exit. So she remembered all she could.

Her last meal, the rabbit, in the arena. Fighting Buzzardear. He had used her… and it cost him his life. She shuddered as she remembered the warm, sticky blood flowing out of his wounds and wreathing itself around her paws. Passing out in its pool, a combined effort, ShadowClan and RiverClan blood united, if only for a brief moment. But one was bleeding in death; the other one still suffered, was still in pain. She wondered if that compensated for the loss.

She vaguely remembered Amberstar's voice before she had passed out. What did she say? It didn't matter anymore. Palestrike was in the Games. The Games.

Palestrike bolted upright, sitting up but feeling too dizzy to stay there, but sinking back onto the floor, astounded.

She had won The Thinning Games.

Had she?

And the answer came to her, readily as she used to answer simple questions back home. The words flowed through her brain, and she spoke aloud.

"No."  
No, she had not won the Games. The arena was still around her, entrapping her, closing in tighter and tighter. She would never win. Even if she managed to get out of the arena, her Clan would never stop blaming her. She came home, but their friends, their mates, their children, their siblings… they never would. And too many were because of her. Brackenstorm. Hadn't Sunlily noticed that he would be watching, later? That she didn't need to tell him? But she would. For her.

Palestrike wondered if the Clan knew, exactly, how it was like to be in there. Snared. Alone. Afraid. No one there for you, nothing to do, no dawn patrol to lead. How that could affect how you thought. What you did. Even how you ate.

She closed her eyes for a second and made a decision.

She would keep playing the Games. Know that nobody would ever understand. Smile, laugh even for the interviews. Go home. Watch them hate her. Get prey and territory in leaf-bare. Wasn't that the deal? She could hardly remember.

Then she remembered something, something that finished off the rest of her sanity. The Reaping. She would have to reap, every year. Hear the medicine cat tell her who would go in a quiet whisper, say the names. Send the rest of them to their deaths. Because one thing was certain.

It was never going to stop, was it?

She snapped, snarling and screaming, a fire burning inside her chest. Darkness clouded her gaze as she slashed at the walls, no warrior, no cat.

She was an animal.

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the late update and short chapter XD. I'm working on it, and when I finish I'm going to do another one, about the first Quarter Quell. Please tell me in the comments whether you like the idea! I have an arena and all the tributes and mentors lined up, so I'm really excited. I love writing these, and I hope you enjoyed it too :).**

 **Love you lots!**

 **Briar**


	17. Chapter 15- Player

Palestrike stretched, awaking. The healers had given her an extra day to recuperate after her incident. But now it was showtime.

The next few hours passed in a whirl of grooming and crying as her prep team ushered her into readiness. Her stylist nodded at her appreciatively, and her mentor looked half relieved that she was alive, and half relieved that their job was over, as they would only be called in as a backup mentor from now on.

Soon in was time to go back to the original clearing. Palestrike was ushered there by her crew, all smiles and laughs, as she kept up appearances. But she was going back to the beginning. Where it had all started…

The Clans roared and booed as she entered, looking at them all ringing around, watching her. Her Clan screamed her name, and for a second, Palestrike's heart swelled. But then she heard the rest of it. "Palestrike, die! Traitor! Murderer!" They snarled. And all of a sudden, she saw them. Wreathing all around her.

There was Leafshadow's calico pelt, glimmering with stars, looking up adoringly at her brother with sad eyes. And there was Sunlily, gazing up at Brackenstorm with a silent wail. Turtlewing, and Darkflicker. They looked at their lovers and families, longing so thick in the air you could slash it open with a claw.

Palestrike caught back a sob as the smell of their fishy pelts swarmed her. But then she sniffed the air again, and she caught a dark, musky scent of pine. She turned to her right, away from her fallen Clanmates, and gasped in shock. Doverun looked over at her kits and mate, eyes glistening with grief. She could barely look at Snowstar, her mother. Lizardclaw wailed a piercing yowl that only Palestrike seemed to hear as she found her mate and brother. Duckfang supported Ripplefang, head down, as he collapsed. His mate and kits were probably still back at camp, waiting to watch a rerun in StarClan that night. Palestrike felt like someone was missing, but she had no time to think it through before mouse and fern invaded her nostrils. She looked behind her and almost screamed at the sight of ThunderClan. Petalflash, cream pelt rippling with stars, helping Eaglestorm walk up to the rest of them from the sky. Adderglow simply lay on the ground with his paws buried in his face. And finally, Copperflash… and Oakstreak. Palestrike's heart ached with sorrow for the two of them, her friends.

Warm heather and rabbit surrounded her as she turned back forward to WindClan. Shadedpetal and Lilytrickle's tortoiseshell pelts practically melted together as they came. Blackrush's night shaded pelt came trotting up behind them, too. Finally Tigershade and Flowerpebble came, finishing the clusters of grief that came into Palestrike all around her.

At least, that's what she thought.

Finally, she remembered who she had missed. Looking back at ShadowClan to her right, she gave a whimper as a silver tabby tom with green eyes came to her with a warm glow in his eyes. Buzzardear reached Palestrike, the closest any of her nightmares had come yet. He touched her nose with his own, and he had no wounds. His neck fur glistened, full and bright. No blood ran out of him, like the last time she had seen him. Stunned into silence, she only seemed to come to when he turned away and started to leave. She opened her mouth when she heard his voice, full with emotion and forgiveness.

"It's okay, Palestrike. They're not here for you. You're just the only thing that can bring them- they couldn't come here without you." Buzzardear rejoined his Clan, and Palestrike realized she was being shaken harder and harder. She snapped out of her daze to medics streaming around her. "No, no, I'm okay." She said, pushing them away. She finished her journey over to Runningwood, who would interview her, trying to ignore Flowerpebble and Blackrush watching on with despair as she passed them.

Shaking her pelt once more, and settled down next to the brown tabby tom. "Are you alright?" He muttered, concern flashing through his amber eyes. She nodded briskly. "Let's go."

Runningwood plastered on his signature smile and looked back at the Clans. "Don't worry, friends! Palestrike will be fine! She just got a bit distracted." Palestrike could tell that not everyone was pumped by the news, but she didn't let it faze her.

"Now, if everyone could go to sleep…" Runningwood probed. Palestrike lay down, curling up against the ghosts she could still hear wailing, and tried to drown them out. Soon, she was captured by blessed relief- or so she thought.

She was in the arena again.

She screeched, before realizing that she couldn't smell the death, or beauty, or blood of it. She then realized that she was just being transported back for a recap. Once she realized that, she also knew that her face at this moment would be shown later, and so she regained her poise. Time to be a player.

Shadedpetal struck down Tigershade first, ripping out his throat with her claws. She hadn't known that she had killed her. Duckfang, as told, was pounced on by Lizardclaw. He was over pretty soon. Darkflicker was struck down by Blackrush. In the haze of the battle, she just now recognized the screeches coming from far ahead. Then she was right there as the vision took her, where a fierce looking cream tabby she-cat lay, amber eyes almost shut, as a dark brown tabby tom that had matching solid brown eyes and a white front left paw beat up a ginger tom, tussling with each other. Oakstreak then killed Adderglow and helped Palestrike go to their camp. The arena continued until she was at a river, watching it flow by, thick with blood. The broken bodies if Petalflash, Flowerpebble, and Doverun littered the ground as the shapes of Blackrush, Buzzardear, and Shadedpetal dissolved into the shadows…

And there went Copperflash, struck down, as Palestrike ripped Ripplefang away from what waited for him back in ShadowClan. And then there were the scenes at the hill, where Oakstreak fell to his fate, crushed by the arena. Then she killed Sunlily, her own Clanmate, as Turtlewing massacred Shadedpetal, and Lizardclaw brutally slashed Blackrush's throat. Soon the Lilytrickle scandal was revealed as she quickly ended Lizardclaw and ran. Then she met her doom, at the falling earth. Palestrike watched herself creep up to, pounce on, and kill Turtlewing. Then she saw Buzzardear's wounds and his herbs that he had strangled out, and then his hunt for Eaglestorm. Her trek, to follow Lizardclaw and make amends. Eaglestorm dying. Lizardclaw dying. Buzzardear running, leaving her alone with her hallucinations… Her last fight and conversation with Buzzardear, and his end. She won. And she heard Amberstar's voice, one last time…

"She-cats and toms, I present to you Palestrike of RiverClan, and the victor of the First Thinning Games!"


End file.
